Framber Valdez returns to the site of one the biggest wins of his young pitching career on Sunday afternoon when the Houston Astros face the Minnesota Twins in
Fletcher forecasts 312% operating profit rise, sector faces recruitment pressures
19 Feb, 2021 04:25 AM
4 minutes to read
Fletcher Building has bounced back, forecasting it will make $610 million to $660m operating profit for the full year, up on the previous year s pandemic-hit $160m. Last year, the business reported a net earnings loss so this year s anticipated result is a huge turnaround for New Zealand s largest building materials manufacturer, supplier and builder.
But the latest forecast rise is not as spectacular if one looks back to 2019, when it made $549m operating profit.
Still, the company exceeded even its own forecast top-end range this week. It had said that in the half-year to December 31, 2020, it would make $305m to $320m but it came in $3m above that at $323m and surprised the market by declaring it would reinstate dividends and pay shareholders 12cps next month.
Feds survey shows farmer confidence has bounced back
2 Feb, 2021 11:00 PM
3 minutes to read
The Country
Farmer confidence has bounced back to where it was pre-Covid, but attracting and retaining staff remains a headache, according to the latest Federated Farmers Farm Confidence Survey.
Of the nearly 1,100 farmers who completed the Research First survey in the second week of January, a net 5.5 per cent considered current economic conditions to be good.
This was a 34-point jump from the July 2020 survey, when a net 28.6 per cent considered them bad, marking the lowest level of farmer confidence in the 12 years the six-monthly survey had been conducted.
NZ reports lowest January road toll in 50 years, with no Hawke s Bay deaths
1 Feb, 2021 02:16 AM
2 minutes to read
This car driver was lucky to escape injury after a collision with a train in Central Hawke s Bay on January 11. Photo / File
This car driver was lucky to escape injury after a collision with a train in Central Hawke s Bay on January 11. Photo / File
Hawkes Bay Today
New Zealand has bounced back from a high Christmas and New Year holiday road toll with one of the lowest January tolls in many years – with no fatalities in Hawke s Bay.
According to Ministry of Transport online statistics, the provisional road toll for January is 16, of which two were in the Christmas-New Year holiday period when 11 people died nationwide, the most in the holiday period in four years.